Just a 'thing' I have about quilts (labels).....

I know there are some VERY talented people on the board. I love embroidery and I see a lot of lovely, very lovely, machine embroidered labels that are added to quilts. I am NOT being critical of anyone who uses or makes embroidered labels but here's my take on a label........

When we make a quilt, gift a quilt, etc. we put our heart into our work and I take the time to actually 'sign', by hand, my quilt. I then hand embroider over my signature. So many of us machine piece, machine quilt our quilts that, to me, adding my hand signed signature just adds that 'final touch'.

I am into genealogy, family history research. I am THRILLED whenever I find an actual signature of one of my ancestors. I have collected their signatures from public records, scanned them, framed them and hung them in my home office with a note as to how I am related to that person.

I have a few heirloom quilts from my ancestors but unfortunately none of them have a label saying who made them. The quilts 'history' is an oral history handed down to me. I would LOVE to have had my ancestors actual signature on the quilts.

The type of label doesn't interest me as long as the year and name of the maker is legible. I haven't found a permanent pen that will hold up to many washings. I have some quilt labels I have to resign after a few years. I know the ones that have been given away, the label is probably to faded to read. I have used all brands of permanent ink and they all fade. I would rather have an embroiderered name somewhere on the label.

The above example is using 4 threads of embroidery floss on a thick tablecloth fabric. For my quilts I use 2 threads on muslin which is much thinner than the example. I also use the second stitch used in the video and my signature is in script, not in block letters.

I'm probably alone on this, but I don't put any label on my quilts. If the person I give it to passes it along to someone else down the road, someone who doesn't know me, I don't want that person to see my name or the name of the person for whom it was made. The quilt becomes that person's quilt. I guess for me the quilt takes on a life of its own and makes its journey, and I don't feel any need to be part of that...

Just me!

People who start projects and never finish them are cooler
than people who never start projects at all.